“Each time he [The Lord] said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NLT)
Christians undervalue weaknesses. All people do. It’s innate in human behavior to accentuate your strengths while overcompensating for your weaknesses. However, spiritual weaknesses can be powerful motivators, teachers, and bring forth great spiritual depth.
In the scripture above, the Apostle Paul tried to explain to the Corinthian church how spiritual weakness can be a great thing in their spiritual life. First, the scripture made clear that spiritual weakness reminds the faithful of the need for God’s grace. If you were perfect and strong in every way, you would not need the grace of God. You would not need to rely on God. You would rely on yourself too much, maybe even trusting in your human abilities rather than God-given gifts. In the verse for today, the Lord reminds the church that “His grace is all you need” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Not only that, when you are weak in body, mind, or spirit, that can help you to develop your spiritual muscles to be your strength. If a man has all the money he needs for every situation, he will NEVER learn to trust in the God who “supplies every need”. He will lean on money or clout instead of leaning on God’s strength. That’s why the Lord also says in the scripture for today that “His power works best in weakness.” When you are weak, you may allow God to be your strength. When you fail, you may allow God’s grace to shine through. When you have sinned, you may allow God’s forgiveness to add a graceful element to your relationship with Heaven. To quote Paul in the scripture for today, weaknesses allow “the power of Christ to work through me.”
So many Christians see their weaknesses as problems. They may view a small sin to be a sign of no faith, when instead it is a time to learn some spiritual lesson. When King David sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba, he could have owned up to his weakness for lust (2 Samuel 11). Instead, he tried to cover up his weakness. He then committed huge sins which included murder. Rather than learning his lesson about the dangers of lust, David had to walk down a path which included lust, murder, lying, pridefulness, and the death of his child. Rather than work through his weakness, he sinned against the people and fouled up his relationship with God. Peter also tried to hide his weakness as he denied Jesus three times. The Apostle Paul did the same thing when he fought against Christians before he was saved. Why is it that when confronted with a weakness in our character or spiritual learning or situation, we want to hide the problem and sweep the weakness under the rug?
The best way to increase your faith is through dealing with your own weaknesses, not to hide them or minimize them. Charles Spurgeon said it this way:
“The only way to increase our faith is through great trouble. We do not grow strong in faith on sunny days; only in stormy weather do we obtain it. Strong faith does not drop from heaven in a gentle dew; generally, it comes in the whirlwind and the storm.
Look at the old oaks. How did they become so deeply rooted? The March winds will tell you. It was not the April showers or the sweet May sunshine that caused the roots to wrap around the rock. It was the rough, blustering, north winds of March shaking the trees.
Life in the barracks does not produce great soldiers. Great soldiers are made amid flying shot and thundering cannons. Nor are good sailors made on calm seas. Good sailors are made on the deep, where the wild wind howls and the thunder rolls like drums. Storms and tempests make tough and hardy sailors.
It is that way with the Christians, great faith must have great trials.” (Beside Still Waters, p. 266)
When a counselor at a Christian camping program, I encountered a young man who had an amazing ability to pray. He could pray as well as any pastor, though only eight years old. When he opened his mouth to talk to God, even when in front of others, his words were powerful and poignant and challenging. How could this great ability to pray be found in an eight-year-old? I have seen adults who worshipped God for forty years who couldn’t pray so eloquently! Then, I found out about this young man. He had been seriously ill. His best friend had cancer. His family was poor. His mother had a disability. With weaknesses all around him, this young man turned to the Lord for strength. He would write prayers to God on behalf of his mother. He would talk to his pastor about how to make things better at home or to help his best friend. He looked for ways to let God work through him to overcome the great problems affecting his life. Through all the weakness, he grew spiritually strong. This affected every part of his spiritual life, especially his prayer time.
Recently, a person sent a message to this web site about an illness. After dealing with the illness and all its limitations and effects for too long, the person decided to just pray powerfully to God trusting in God's healing grace. Overnight, everything seemed to ease. The illness no longer held sway over the person's life. It was miraculous! This is another perfect example of working through a weakness using God's strength.
When you find a weakness in your thinking, a flaw in your character, a lack of ability, or a challenge in your situation, don’t hide it. Don’t run away from the issues. Bring everything to the Lord. Work through that weakness until the Lord makes you strong. Place your weakness at the foot of the cross and work out a way to grow stronger and overcome that weakness by the power of God.
Have you been hiding some weakness from God for too long? Is there a spiritual weakness that keeps popping up in your spiritual life? Are you willing to put any weakness at the foot of the cross and learn what it takes to deal with that challenge? Let God show you how to use your weaknesses to grow your spiritual muscles and increase your spiritual strength.
In the scripture above, the Apostle Paul tried to explain to the Corinthian church how spiritual weakness can be a great thing in their spiritual life. First, the scripture made clear that spiritual weakness reminds the faithful of the need for God’s grace. If you were perfect and strong in every way, you would not need the grace of God. You would not need to rely on God. You would rely on yourself too much, maybe even trusting in your human abilities rather than God-given gifts. In the verse for today, the Lord reminds the church that “His grace is all you need” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Not only that, when you are weak in body, mind, or spirit, that can help you to develop your spiritual muscles to be your strength. If a man has all the money he needs for every situation, he will NEVER learn to trust in the God who “supplies every need”. He will lean on money or clout instead of leaning on God’s strength. That’s why the Lord also says in the scripture for today that “His power works best in weakness.” When you are weak, you may allow God to be your strength. When you fail, you may allow God’s grace to shine through. When you have sinned, you may allow God’s forgiveness to add a graceful element to your relationship with Heaven. To quote Paul in the scripture for today, weaknesses allow “the power of Christ to work through me.”
So many Christians see their weaknesses as problems. They may view a small sin to be a sign of no faith, when instead it is a time to learn some spiritual lesson. When King David sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba, he could have owned up to his weakness for lust (2 Samuel 11). Instead, he tried to cover up his weakness. He then committed huge sins which included murder. Rather than learning his lesson about the dangers of lust, David had to walk down a path which included lust, murder, lying, pridefulness, and the death of his child. Rather than work through his weakness, he sinned against the people and fouled up his relationship with God. Peter also tried to hide his weakness as he denied Jesus three times. The Apostle Paul did the same thing when he fought against Christians before he was saved. Why is it that when confronted with a weakness in our character or spiritual learning or situation, we want to hide the problem and sweep the weakness under the rug?
The best way to increase your faith is through dealing with your own weaknesses, not to hide them or minimize them. Charles Spurgeon said it this way:
“The only way to increase our faith is through great trouble. We do not grow strong in faith on sunny days; only in stormy weather do we obtain it. Strong faith does not drop from heaven in a gentle dew; generally, it comes in the whirlwind and the storm.
Look at the old oaks. How did they become so deeply rooted? The March winds will tell you. It was not the April showers or the sweet May sunshine that caused the roots to wrap around the rock. It was the rough, blustering, north winds of March shaking the trees.
Life in the barracks does not produce great soldiers. Great soldiers are made amid flying shot and thundering cannons. Nor are good sailors made on calm seas. Good sailors are made on the deep, where the wild wind howls and the thunder rolls like drums. Storms and tempests make tough and hardy sailors.
It is that way with the Christians, great faith must have great trials.” (Beside Still Waters, p. 266)
When a counselor at a Christian camping program, I encountered a young man who had an amazing ability to pray. He could pray as well as any pastor, though only eight years old. When he opened his mouth to talk to God, even when in front of others, his words were powerful and poignant and challenging. How could this great ability to pray be found in an eight-year-old? I have seen adults who worshipped God for forty years who couldn’t pray so eloquently! Then, I found out about this young man. He had been seriously ill. His best friend had cancer. His family was poor. His mother had a disability. With weaknesses all around him, this young man turned to the Lord for strength. He would write prayers to God on behalf of his mother. He would talk to his pastor about how to make things better at home or to help his best friend. He looked for ways to let God work through him to overcome the great problems affecting his life. Through all the weakness, he grew spiritually strong. This affected every part of his spiritual life, especially his prayer time.
Recently, a person sent a message to this web site about an illness. After dealing with the illness and all its limitations and effects for too long, the person decided to just pray powerfully to God trusting in God's healing grace. Overnight, everything seemed to ease. The illness no longer held sway over the person's life. It was miraculous! This is another perfect example of working through a weakness using God's strength.
When you find a weakness in your thinking, a flaw in your character, a lack of ability, or a challenge in your situation, don’t hide it. Don’t run away from the issues. Bring everything to the Lord. Work through that weakness until the Lord makes you strong. Place your weakness at the foot of the cross and work out a way to grow stronger and overcome that weakness by the power of God.
Have you been hiding some weakness from God for too long? Is there a spiritual weakness that keeps popping up in your spiritual life? Are you willing to put any weakness at the foot of the cross and learn what it takes to deal with that challenge? Let God show you how to use your weaknesses to grow your spiritual muscles and increase your spiritual strength.